Share

SA’s pool power

accreditation
Chad Le Clos has qualified for three events that will take place at the Rio Olympic Games to be staged in August in Brazil. Picture: TEBOGO LETSIE
Chad Le Clos has qualified for three events that will take place at the Rio Olympic Games to be staged in August in Brazil. Picture: TEBOGO LETSIE

Chad Le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh led the charge as South African swimmers clocked several impressive qualifying times for the Rio Olympic Games at the SA National Aquatic Championships at Durban’s Kings Park Aquatic Centre this week.

By Friday, Le Clos had already qualified to represent the country in the 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly and 100m butterfly, with impressive times of 1:47.88, 1:55.61 and 51.91, respectively. Van der Burgh splashed into a 59.66 in the 100m breaststroke, and clocked 2:10.13 in the 200m breaststroke.

At close of business on Friday night, nine swimmers had already swum qualifying times for the big Rio shindig. Alani Ferreira and Kevin Paul led the Paralympian qualifiers.

Ferreira qualified for the (SM13) 200m individual medley in a time of 2:50.43; the 400m freestyle, clocking 5:21.00; the 100m breaststroke in 1:26.90; the (SB13) 100m breaststroke in 1:26.90; and he registered a time of 1:23.37 to claim a berth in the (S13) 100m butterfly.

Paul has made it for the (SM10) 200m individual medley in 2:15.78; 200m breaststroke (1:05.1); and the (SB9) 100m breaststroke (1:05.10).

South Africa took 16 swimmers to the London 2012 Olympics and they brought home three medals, thanks to Le Clos’ gold in the men’s 200m butterfly, Van der Burgh’s gold in the men’s 100m breaststroke and the former’s silver in the men’s 100m butterfly.

The contingent of 10 Paralympian swimmers amassed a haul of 11 medals, four of them gold, four silver and three bronze. This was among the things that led to Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula adjusting the discrepancy on the bonuses that were promised before the Games.

Mbalula said Paralympian medallists would receive amounts in bonuses equal to their able-bodied counterparts, saying the original offer had been “discriminatory”.

The final number of swimmers who will travel to Rio will be determined by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), which will announce Team SA on July 14, as some qualifying will still be taking place until July 11.

Excited Swimming SA president Jace Naidoo told City Press yesterday that the event had produced more than they had expected.

“We came here looking forward to seeing the likes of Chad and Cameron do well, but some newcomers have done exceptionally well,” he said.

He singled out Tatjana Schoenmaker, who missed out on qualification to the Rio Olympic Games in the 200m breaststroke by an 11th of a second, as she finished her race in 2:26.95.

He also said the men’s medley relay team had clocked what is now the ninth-fastest time in the world on Friday.

“We now wait for Fina (the international swimming federation) to see how other countries will do, as they only take the top six teams.

Among the swimmers who were expected to make qualifying times in their events was four-time Olympian Roland Schoeman, who specialises in the 100m and 50m freestyle. Among the other events that were to be staged last night were the men’s 4x100m freestyle, men’s 4x200m freestyle and the women’s 4x100m relay.

Naidoo said the SA junior team would be travelling to Mauritius this week for the Southern African Junior Championships, which include aquatics and open-water swimming.

As Swimming SA continues to struggle with no principal sponsor since Telkom pulled out its support of R11.5 million per year in 2013, Naidoo said they survived on the support they received from the department of sports and recreation, Sascoc, Arena, Rand Water and the National Lotteries Commission.

. Meanwhile, South African open-water marathon swimmer Chad Ho has joined Schoeman in crying out for help to pursue his dream.

“I found out today that Portugal for Olympic Trials is a self-funded tour, which means I need to put forward about R25 000 out of my own pocket to get me there!” he posted on his Facebook page.

“I hate for it to come down to this, but I do need to ask for help again with any funds possible – I have some savings, but not enough to cover my trip.

“Let the fundraising begin, & thank you in advance to everyone for their support & help!"

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you believe that the various planned marches against load shedding will prompt government to bring solutions and resolve the power crisis?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes
21% - 103 votes
No
79% - 399 votes
Vote